Can Conservative Poetry Save Our Nation?
By Susan Morgan Bosler
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” (http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/crisis/c-01.htm)
Thus begins “The Crisis” written in 1776, by Thomas Paine, one of America’s forefathers and radical revolutionaries. But yesterday’s revolutionaries are today’s conservatives in the minds of most. For revolutionaries do not speak the words of Thomas Paine with sincere love and respect these days, rather they boast the writing of lesser grade, far more inconsequential, progressive tract politicos who hold more denigration than admiration for this country, the United States, the greatest experiment in Democracy and Republicanism in the history of mankind.
Today in America we are faced with many challenges. The sides are divided and there is much disharmony and distrust between the factions. One can not simply call themselves a Democrat or a Republican, they have to further delineate their political stands of being a progressive this or a conservative that. And, all the while, we are rapidly losing our liberties, and our unique identity.
Poetry, may seem to be a strange topic to bring forth at this juncture, but let’s do explore what can be shared through poetry in this trying time, the start of the 21st century. When this new millennium was still in her infancy, the attack from Jihadist terrorists struck against America and all she stands for. In a fevered response,. there came an out pouring of poetry. People who had never actually put pen to paper, did so to show their allegiance to their country, their pride in their citizenship and their grief in the number of lives lost. How valiant we sang the praises of our fallen brethren, our soldiers, our firemen, our police officers, and our fellow citizens who stepped forward and sacrificed themselves in full measure with little to no thought of their own safety. We were a whole country in those days that followed. We were a family coming together. For a time, it seemed that we would never disband or fractionalize again.
“America’s victims
This is the end of Americas’ innocence, and a loss in all of our hearts.
With all of our grieving this is where the war starts.
The whole world stopped on the 11th of september.
With all of americas’ victims we always shall remember.
We are a whole nation that is in mourning.
Those who took part in this deplorable act should heed our warning.
We always will remember what happened to the world trade towers.
Those who perpertrated this horror messed with the strongest world powers.
We will not go quietly into that good night.
As for all of us Americans we have to unite.
We can not be pulled apart by our petty differences any longer.
We have to pull together and then that will make us stronger.
I wrote this on the 14th of september 2001.
We still have to unite now more than ever.
Richard Guignard”(http://www.9-11heroes.us/911-memorial-poems-b.php)
As time moved on we became callous to our broken hearts and many even moved emotionally so far from that horrible day that they decided the best thing to do was to alter their memory of it. After all, the progressives repeatedly chanted “we had brought it on ourselves!” Ira Chernus, a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado and author of American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea (Orbis Books) has written many essays on this very topic and has become the champion of the far left on the topic of who and what is to be blamed. In one blog he writes, “But 9/11 is a story that will never end, precisely because neither side in the debate will ever believe the other side. It doesn’t matter how many facts are unearthed. History isn’t made by facts. It’s made by interpreting facts. In this case, each side can go on forever, fitting all the facts into its preferred interpretation. That’s why the mystery will never end.” (http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0910-16.htm; 9/11: The Politics of Eternal Mystery)
A controversy arose in New Jersey, when its Poet Laureate, Amirir Baraka, wrote in response to the 911 Attacks the poem entitled “Somebody Blew Up America.”
You may read the entire poem here – http://www.nathanielturner.com/somebodyblewupamerica.htm
This poem caused a huge outcry in all of America and much distress to those still devastated. Although the poem is well written, its position is so Anti-American, that the sentiment of most of America at the time was to defame the poet and cast aspersions his way. Clearly this poem was meant to drive a wedge between Americans, and most did not support its sentiment. Americans as a whole are great defenders of “fair play” and most if not all, share the common adage “it’s wrong to kick a man when he is down!”
Fast forward through the first decade of the 21st century, when there is now two wars still on-going, a worldwide financial recession, the growing tension of nuclear activity by less than “steady” countries, the nationalization of banks, lending institutions, medical services, and auto makers here in the United States, the highest levels of unemployment, the rising numbers of the poor and the homeless and quite simply significant and unprecedented moves toward progressivism and socialism in America at a hare-like pace, and you will find that the bastion of political poetry and poets have stepped up to have their voices heard once more.
One reactionary song that is getting much air time at the present is by John Rich, who wrote: “Shuttin’ Detroit Down”. Here are first couple of lyrics (poetic):
“My daddy taught me
In this county everyone’s the same
You work hard for your dollar
And you never pass the blame
When it don’t go your way
Now I see all these big shots
Whining on my evening news
About how their losing billions
And it’s up to me and you
To come running to the rescue
Well pardon me if I don’t she’d a tear
Cuz they’re selling make believe
And we don’t buy that here
Because in the real world they’re
Shutting Detroit down
While the boss man takes his
Bonus pay and jets on outta town”
For the rest of the lyrics go to:
(http://www.allyrics.net/j/15539/John_Rich-lyrics/206717/Shuttin__Detroit_Down/index.htm)
Many current thinkers feel strongly that poems from the left fundamentally hold more emotion and truth than that from the conservative right. This is a question of a subjective nature, since prowess to write does not issue from one’s political leanings, rather it is from the zeal and feeling that drives any poem. Do those who decry the horrors of life in America outweigh the voices of those who find satisfaction in being patriotic and an American? One hopes not, since poetry often emanates from a visceral point of “thought,” a complaint or a wish to memorialize a moment in time.
Edwin Rolfe (20th Century Poet) and life long Communist “views” have been “summed up by Eric Homberger: “Within the notoriously humorless Communist Party, and on the American Left as a whole, bourgeois culture was viewed with contempt. The atmosphere within the party was aggressively philistine””(Rolfe, 2001, 44) In other words, opinions from the left hold no sentiment or respect for established institutions or normal inter-human relationships. It is all passé and it is all worth destruction!
While many think it is the poets on the left who challenge us and point out our blemishes, and that the poets on the right support “what is” with love, pride and honor, clearly this is not always the case. Many conservative poets also call for change, but with a less provocative decry. It is the difference between using a butcher knife and a scalpel to cut away what’s cancerous in the body politic. Once we listened to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and felt the outcry for change. Now we listen to Lee Greenwood and Charlie Daniels, bringing us reflections of how great we were, and where we “need to (git) back to” to reclaim our forgotten prestige! Consider the difference and similarities in the following:
1. Bob Dylan’s You’re Gonna Have to Serve Somebody
You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
(For the rest of lyrics see: http://www.bobdylanlyrics.net/gottaserve.html)
2. Lee Greewood’s Proud to be American
If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today,
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.
And I’m proud to be an American where as least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.
(For the rest of lyrics see: http://seema.org/911/proud_to_be_american.htm)
We no longer sing about “overcoming,” now we sing about “rededication to the principles that made this country in the first place.” Conservative or non-populist thinking is one that encourages the status quo (of the good old days) or a return to the “once were” known and beloved conditions; all the while recognizing a great sense of purpose in the recognition of the reality of a higher being (God) who is in control of things known and unknown. “The task of conservative argument is to establish the legitimacy of an existing social order (or an image of it) and to justify its diversity and inequalities, its limits and its privileges, and its established authority.” (Aughey, Jones, and Riches, 1992, p 33- 34)
So, how can conservative, nationalistic poetry (and music) save the American Nation? Simply by reminding those of us who have forgotten what we, as Americans, stand for and have accomplished in our short life as a nation. When you think of those conservative voices in American Poetry from the past, remember to include William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), Ralph Waldo Emerson , (1803–1882), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), and Sidney Lanier (1842–1881), to name but a few.
But again I ask, how can conservative, nationalistic poetry (and music) save the American Nation? After all is said and done, compared and analyzed, after all is argued and criticized – POETRY FROM EITHER SIDE CAN NOT SAVE THE AMERICAN NATION! It was T.S. Elliot who wrote “Tradition and the Individual Talent” published in the Egoist in 1919: “If we approach a poet without this [anti-traditional] prejudice, we shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously”(Rolfe 2001, null11)
In other words, poetry does not cause change – it memorializes feelings, social platitudes, dreams, hopes, desires, mandates and so forth – but it does not save or change anything political. It does what it has always done. It makes people feel rather than respond.
The poet is not a modern alchemist mixing analogies with condemnations to halt poverty, depression, homelessness, war, famine, rape, bigotry, plague or indifference. The poet is now, and has always been the witness to and the biographer of the emotional, sociological, theological, technological and philosophical trends and actions of the many and the individual. The poet is unique because those who write poetry both observe and live within the context of what they write about; the subjects they choose often times chooses them.
Conservative Poetry can not save our nation, it can only and most importantly, remind us of our core values and who we really are deep down inside. So, perhaps I am wrong to say it can not save our nation, maybe it can, if we listen hard enough to get the message and be reminded of what this Nation stands for after all is said and done!
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” (Patrick Henry, speech made in the House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, in Saint John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.)
Additional Reference Material
Aughey, Arthur, Greta Jones, and W. T. M. Riches. The Conservative Political Tradition in Britain and the United States. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1992.
Rolfe, Edwin. “1 Tradition and the Political Poet.” Making Something Happen: American Political Poetry between the World Wars. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.
I believe poetry could be the backbone in bringing all nations together. With poetry we show feelings and fears in which we all share. Whether our grovenments acknowledge our feelings or not. We, who share our true feelings are the ones who suffer and lose the most. Do I beleive conservative poetry can help our nations capital? Not unless the grovenment wants to hear the true cries of it’s own people.
Susan, this is an outstanding article. This sentence in particular spoke to me:
“the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously.”
I see the polarization of our political system and of our greatest thinkers into “camps” of “right” and “left” as one of the greatest weaknesses of our democracy. Living in another country helped me to see this all too well — attitudes which, in this country would be considered “left”, in other countries are considered “right”, and the other way around.
The trick is to first somehow reach people, for potential readers to find those who are writing the poems. The second is to realize that we need to throw off partisan politics, and read and write about what really matters to each one of us. We can all be a part of this by keeping an open mind in our reading and our writing, and by using symbolism in our writing to communicate with one another on a deep level.
All the best to you.
Hi Susan, I really enjoyed the article. You’ve made some wonderful points about poetry and it’s place in the world today. I think all art reflects life really. Don’t you? When I home schooled my son, I taught him art and history together, showing how art was influenced by the times. Poetry, too, is certainly influenced as well. Again, I’ve truly enjoyed this! xox ~M~
Comparing the so-called Conservative voices of the 1700′s and 1800′s to those of today is misleading at best, since “Conservatism” as we know it today is the antithesis of what it was then.
Excellent article and a fascinating idea. The core point that came across for me (and this was alive in all your quotes) was that poetry works best when it has something to say. The most skilled poet, conservative, liberal or whatever, will lack the impact of a less skilled poet who has something pasionate to convey. When you match both up, then poetry cn change things.
Thnaks for this. Made me think.
Si
I believe it’s people that change what our nation is,, we can hope that our words are read,, but it is the words that are acted upon that are the ones most important..a poet speaks from the heart, so its important that he be heard, It is the one reading the poetry I think on. Will they understand what the poet says, or twist the words for their own gain? Poetry can change the nation,, but people have to want the change and make the effort as well.. Heidi (inky)
Very thoughtful article. Poetry, now as in the past, reveals the heart and beliefs of the poet regarding the subject matter of the poem. The reading of any poem should spark thoughtfulness in the reader. But, again, the reader will interpret what he or she reads through the prism of his or her history and prejudices. So, can political poetry save our nation? No, but it should stimulate thought about the issues and events occurring in the present.
9/12
You heard them say it, over and over
The shouts filling the very air
Plan come together, unexpected aid
They took their full advantage
Wasting no time to cry or morn
They used the murderous massacre
To promote their great plan, to war again
That what we all should have known
“God’s Will,” “They will be Avenged”
The overnight battle cry
And we in our grief, in shock from it all
What else but we had to agree
With us dazzled and confused
Pain and fear overwhelming
All that was left for them
Was to bend it their way
But they’d had lots of practice
To manipulate and use
You see, it’s the way they do business
In the new USA
They pulled out the bloody pulpit
And a few of their plans for war
Set the machine in motion
Our boys across the shore
And I remember wondering
At the target of their attack
For it wasn’t even the country of
The ones the did the murders
Grant us victory, O Lord our God!
They shouted from that bloody pulpit
As though by dragging the creator in
The thousands of deaths wouldn’t matter
By now I would guess, I’ve stirred up your anger
And mostly at me, not at them
Coward and cynic, unpatriotic
Are probably the nicest words used
But if you care to read on
Anger in check, I’ll provide clarification
You see I’ve been there myself
Long years now past
And I know the fallacy of war…
Steve ‘Easy’ Whitacre December 3rd, 2007
Note: Never begin to believe I don’t support
our poor troops in the nightmare they find
themselves in, I do! With all my soul and heart.
Rather, understand that I cannot, in good conscience,
support the greed and darkness that puts them there.
We are all family, all of us, and no-one deserves
death over the small imagined differences we
create to frame our existence. We all want the
same things, happiness, safety for our families,
and the power to create our own destiny. We
all cry, all feel pain, and all morn our loses. But
we are all the same, frail human beings walking
a lonely path through this journey. And, at some
point in the future, we will all return home.
Until then, I pray you walk in peace and beauty,
and may you have all you ever need…
Easy
Very well written article, Susan, much enjoyed. Poetry when politicized can lose touch, become petty and partial, limited in scope, spin an agenda, forget to take the greater panorama into account and thereby can pigeonhole human nature instead of exploring its depths through a subject or issue. Beyond cultural, ethnic and political divisions lies a universal aspect that resonates with all, a profound area that artists, musicians and poets are most suited to translate, due to their natural sensibilities.
Great art in any form does transcend its historical context, the prisms of its era. For truth is timeless and universal. For instance, so many of Shakespeare’s lines are used as common cliches today. You can read an ancient dead poet and feel he is echoing your most secret thoughts…that is the great power in poetry.
Excellent write, Susan!
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A wonderful piece. Excellent in every way.
Barbara (MySp)
Very well done Susan!